New Mexico

Genital tract trauma following spontaneous vaginal childbirth is common, and evidence-based prevention measures have not been identified, beyond minimizing the use of episiotomy. This study randomized 1211 healthy women in midwifery care at the University of New Mexico teaching hospital to one of three care measures late in the second stage of labor:1) warm compresses to the perineal area, 2) massage with lubricant, or 3) no touching of the perineum until crowning of the infant's head. The purpose was to assess whether any of these measures was associated with lower levels of obstetric trauma. After each birth, the clinical midwife recorded demographic, clinical care, and outcome data, including the location and extent of any genital tract trauma. The frequency distribution of genital tract trauma was equal in all three groups. Individual women and their clinicians should decide whether to use these techniques based on maternal comfort and other considerations. . precis: Selected midwifery strategies for management of the perineum in childbirth (warm compresses, massage with lubricant, or hands off until crowning) were not associated with more or fewer spontaneous lacerations.

Comparison of Upper Guadalupian fore-reef, reef and back-reef strata from outcrops in the Guadalupe Mountains with equivalent subsurface cores from the northern and eastern margins of the Delaware Basin indicates that extensive evaporite diagenesis has occurred in both areas. In both surface and subsurface sections, the original sediments were extensively dolomitized and most primary and secondary porosity was filled with anhydrite. These evaporites were emplaced by reflux of evaporitic fluids from shelf settings through solution-enlarged fractures and karstic sink holes into the underlying strata. Outcrop areas today, however, contain no preserved evaporites in reef and fore-reef sections and only partial remnants of evaporites are retained in back-reef settings. In their place, these rocks contain minor silica, very large volumes of coarse sparry calcite and some secondary porosity. The replacement minerals locally form pseudomorphs of their evaporite precursors and, less commonly, contain solid anhydrite inclusions.

Sexual assault survivors with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were assessed for frequency of nightmares, measured retrospectively on the Nightmare Frequency Questionnaire (NFQ) and prospectively on nightmare dream logs (NLOG). Retrospective frequency was extremely high, averaging occurrences every other night and an estimated number of nightmares greater than ®ve per week. Test±retest reliability data on the NFQ yielded weighted kappa coef®cients of .85 (95% CI, .74±.95) for nights and .90 (95% CI, .83±.97) for nightmares. Correlations between retrospective and prospective nightmare frequencies ranged between .53 (P :001) for nights and .63 (P :001) for nightmares. Correlations between frequency and distress measures (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress) yielded coef®cients ranging from (r :28±.53). Compared with intrusive, cumbersome and time-consuming prospective measurements, the NFQ appears reliable, convenient, and equally useful in assessing nightmare frequency in a group of sexual assault survivors. Nightmare frequency, prevalence, distress and impairment are discussed. #

The Internet Protocol (IP) is currently used to provide internetworking among heterogeneous access networks. However, the evolution of and the innovation within these networks is greatly hindered by the geographical and topological rigidness of the protocol implementation that hinders the support for flexible unstructured communication paradigms. To broaden the user's innovation space and to efficiently embrace the characteristics of these emerging unstructured networks, clean-slate architectural approaches are being pursued. In this paper, we present the Persistent Identification and NeTworking research framework (PINT); an implementation of the Transient Network Architecture (TNA) currently being developed between the University of New Mexico and the Corporation for National Research Initiatives. PINT provides the research community with a modular and extensible set of networking components and primitives that enable novel research and experimentation atop a persistently identified networking platform. This technology provides a ground for inter-networking of heterogeneous communication networks where novel networking primitives are exposed through the Persistent Identification and Networking Layer (PINL), allowing mobile and stationary entities to communicate securely based on persistent identifiers that are location independent.

Food habits of co-occurring largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) and spotted bass (M. punctulatus) were documented in two New Mexico reservoirs, Brantley Lake and Sumner Lake, from May 2001 to May 2002. In Brantley Lake, bass ate mainly fish, whereas bass in Sumner Lake ate mainly crayfish. Food habits of both species varied seasonally and there was substantial overlap in the

Reducing youth suicide in the United States (U.S.) is a national public health priority, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth are at elevated risk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) endorses six evidence-based (EB) strategies that center on meeting the needs of LGBTQ youth in schools; however, fewer than 6 % of U.S. schools implement all of them. The proposed intervention model, "RLAS" (Implementing School Nursing Strategies to Reduce LGBTQ Adolescent Suicide), builds on the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment (EPIS) conceptual framework and the Dynamic Adaptation Process (DAP) to implement EB strategies in U.S. high schools. The DAP accounts for the multilevel context of school settings and uses Implementation Resource Teams (IRTs) to facilitate appropriate expertise, advise on acceptable adaptations, and provide data feedback to make schools implementation ready and prepared to sustain ch...

A GPS-based system has been developed that accurately locates the sources of VHF radiation from lightning discharges in three spatial dimensions and time. The observations are found to reflect the basic charge structure of electrified storms. Observations have also been obtained of a distinct type of energetic discharge referred to as positive bipolar breakdown, recently identified as the source of trans-ionospheric pulse pairs (TIPPs) observed by satellites from space. The bipolar breakdown has been confirmed to occur between the main negative and upper positive charge regions of a storm and found to be the initial event of otherwise normal intracloud discharges. The latter is contrary to previous findings that the breakdown appeared to be temporally isolated from other lightning in a storm. Peak VHF radiation from the energetic discharges is observed to be typically 30 dB stronger than that from other lightning processes and to correspond to source power in excess of 100 kW over a 6 MHz bandwidth centered at 63 MHz.

This paper presents the Via Virtual Project, a virtual reference service designed by the University of Cadiz as a strategy in response to the new educational model in Europe. It was launched in cooperation with the University of New Mexico General Library as a bilingual reference service in real time, available 24 hours a day. The philosophy of the project will be described: the difference between virtual reference and a traditional reference service, the reorganisation of functions and activities, the acquisition of new skills by staff, the implementation of the software, and training etc. At present, the University of Cadiz Library is working in conjunction with the University of Valparaiso Library.

An in vitro regeneration protocol has been developed from 'half-seed explants' of a mild (cv. New Mexico-6) and a pungent (cv. Rajpur Hirapur) Chile pepper (Capsicum annuum L). Imbibed seeds were cut into two parts such that one portion contained the cotyledons and a part of the hypocotyl (part A) while the other part had the proximal part of the hypocotyl and the radicle (part B). These explants were cultured on MS medium with or without cytokinins (KIN, BA, ZEA, 2iP). Cytokinins dramatically increased both the percentage of explants forming buds as well as the number of buds per explant, and also hastened the rate of bud production. The relative efficacy of cytokinins in inducing the formation of leafy buds varied in the two cultivars. However, the best response was observed with ZEA in both cultivars. The highest percentage of bud formation was recorded after presoaking part B explants for 72 hours. The elongation growth of leafy buds was severely inhibited in the continuous presence of high concentrations of cytokinins, and frequently the buds became quite thick, ill-defined and vitreous. Within 3-5 weeks of transfer to Magenta boxes containing vermiculite and soil (1:3), 70-85% of the rooted hypocotyls developed l-2 elongated shoots. Following transfer to pots, these plantlets grew into normal plants.

Little data exist on dating violence experienced by immigrant Hispanic adolescents. The present study examined the relationships between immigration status, language spoken at home, and dating violence experienced by Hispanic adolescent girls in New Mexico. Data from the 2007 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Surveys were analyzed. Adjusted logistic regression analyses were conducted among the full sample of Hispanic females (N = 3,412) and among strata based on immigration status. Immigrant Hispanic girls were as likely as non-immigrant Hispanic girls to have experienced dating violence in the prior year (P = 0.93). Among immigrant Hispanic girls, those who were Non-English-dominant were one-fourth as likely to have experienced dating violence as those immigrant girls who were English-dominant (aOR 0.27 [95% CI 0.08-0.87]). Among US-born Hispanic girls, those who were Non-English-dominant were less likely to have experienced dating violence; however, this value did not reach statistical significance (aOR 0.65 [95% CI 0.33-1.27]). Past sexual experience was a significant risk factor for dating violence for US-born Hispanic girls (aOR 4.99 [95% CI 3.18-7.83]) but not for immigrant Hispanic girls (aOR 1.66 [95% CI 0.63-4.43]). Immigrant status was not found to be protective against dating violence for New Mexico Hispanic girls. However, those immigrant girls who were less acculturated in terms of language used at home were found to have only a quarter of the risk of dating violence as those more acculturated. The use of heritage language by immigrant Hispanic girls may be a protective factor against dating violence. Further studies are indicated to confirm this finding.

We have used high speed streaking photographic techniques to time-resolve the luminous components of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes. All recordings were made during our participation in the Thunderstorm Research International Program (TRIP), conducted at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, during the summers of 1977 and 1978, and at the Langmuir Laboratory, near Socorro, New Mexico, during the summer of 1979. Twenty one dart leaders, four dart-stepped leaders and three stepped leaders were recorded, the majority under daylight conditions. The mean two-dimensional propagation speed of the dart leaders, evaluated over channel lengths less than or equal to 0.8 km above ground, is 11 x 10 6 m/s, with a range of 2.9 to 23 x 10 6 m/s. Several of the dart leaders reveal a decrease in propagation speed as ground is approached. However, four of the dart leaders in two separate flashes show an increase in speed near the ground, an observation not previously reported in the literature. In two multistroke flashes, we examine the variation of dart leader propagation speed along the channel and find very similar behavior for different strokes in the same flash. The speed variations that we observe may be predominantly caused by geometrical variations of the channel. The dart leader propagation speeds reported in this study are compared with the earlier works of Schonland, McEachron, and Kitagawa and Brook. Agreement among the studies is good, with a common range of observed dart leader propagation speed of 2 to 23 x 106 m/s. The major discrepancy among these studies is the observation, by Schonland, of a distribution of dart leader propagation speeds positively skewed toward the lower limit of reported values. Eleven of the dart leaders are analyzed at upper and lower levels along the visible channel to give 22 dart 'lengths.' They range from 7 to 75 m with a mean of 34 m. For these 22 determinations, we calculate a correlation coefficient of 0.85 between the dart length and the dart leader propagation speed. The correlation of greater dart length with higher propagation speed is consistent with the slower decay of channel luminosity due to the greater initial input of energy to the channel by the faster and, presumably, more energetic dart leader. Four dart-stepped leaders are examined in detail with regard to variation of propagation speed, step length, stepping interval, and luminous intensity during propagation between the cloud base and ground. Significant differences in the tendencies of these parameters are found within these four leaders. For example, one dart-stepped leader recording shows a decreasing propagation speed and an increasing step interval near ground, whereas another shows the opposite behavior. In the best event recorded, several of the individual steps reveal a photographic film density structure, with the lower portion of the step exhibiting a distinct, bright tip that fans out into a symmetrically diffuse image in the upper portion of the step. Our analysis indicates that this spread in the upper portion of the step image is not the result of streaking photography distortion but, rather, represents the luminous structure of the step. We estimate that the step image is recorded in less than 1/xs. Consequently, with a measured step length of---20 m, the luminous pulse must propagate along the step at a speed of at least 2 x 10 7 m/s. The mean propagation speed for three stepped leaders is found to be 1.1 x 106 m/s. All three stepped leaders are very faint, and were recorded only in the last 100-200 m above ground. Two stepped leaders and one dart-stepped leader do not propagate completely to ground before initiation of the return stroke. Apparently, these leaders are met by an upward propagating discharge at heights above ground of 20, 30, and 20 m, respectively. Other stepped and dart-stepped leader cases are indeterminate because an obstacle or the horizon prevent the recording of the leaders near the ground. Connecting discharges are not observed for any of the dart leader events with a resolution of 10 m at 5 km, implying that upward discharges initiated by the approach of dart leader do not occur or are substantially less than a few tens of meters in length. Dart leaders, apparently, propagate completely to ground.

Since 1971, a series of annual Environmental Surveillance. .. reports have served as the official public record of Los Alamos National Laboratory's (LANL) environmental performance. In northern New Mexico, where past LANL emissions are a public health concern, there is public skepticism over the accuracy of information contained in these reports. To test the hypothesis that LANL Environmental Surveillance. .. reports systematically understate past emissions, we compared the data on releases in LANL's own internal Occurrence Reports Collection (ORC) to the data reported to the public in the Environmental Surveillance. .. reports. A data set of 89 environmental occurrences recorded in the ORC in the time period from 1971 through 1980 was assembled. We did not find a systematic pattern of quantitative underreporting of source terms. However, 17 of the 89 (19%) environmental occurrences recorded in the ORC were not reported to the public in the Environmental Surveillance. .. reports. The observed discrepancies are discussed in terms of their relevance to public health concerns. Methodological caveats dictate restraint in applying these findings beyond the scope of the relative comparison performed here. Possible social origins for the rejected hypothesis are discussed. Areas for further consideration by the Centers for Disease Control's dose reconstruction study of LANL are identified.

The Mikrokosmos (uK) Machine Translation System is a knowledge-based machine translation (KBMT) system under development at New Mexico State University. Unlike previous research in interlingual MT, this project is a large-scale, practical MT system. By the end of the year, a lexicon of approximately 20,000 Spanish words (with over 35,000 word senses) supported by an ontology of 6000 concepts will be in place. High quality semantic analyses of over 400 article-length Spanish texts in the domain of company mergers and acquisitions will have been produced. In the coming year, uK intends to expand into other languages, notably Thai. This paper introduces the central concepts involved in KBMT, including Text-Meaning Representation (TMR), ontology, and the semantic lexicon. The semantic analyzer ''engine'' will then be described in detail, with examples of how knowledge from the ontology, lexicon and syntactic analysis are combined to create the basic semantic dependency structures found in the TMR outputs. Several issues in semantic analysis programming will be briefly probed, including dependency-directed processing, ''best-first'' search, and knowledgeable treatment of unexpected and ambiguous inputs.

States, primarily because of Papanicolaou testing. However, limited information is available about the incidence of the disease in the US-Mexico border region, where some of the poorest counties in the United States are located. This study was undertaken to help compare the patterns of cervical cancer incidence among women in the US-Mexico border region and other parts of the United States.

It has long been suggested that the near field zone in GPR data contains no usable information, and should be ignored.This paper shows that there can be usable information in the near-field zone when accurate time-zero is chosen, and near-surface reflections are processed.Reflection data from a Pueblo site in New Mexico were filtered and then re-gained to reveal floors within the upper 3 nanoseconds, and their presence was confirmed by excavation.

In our research group, we develop novel dots-in-a-well (DWELL) photodetectors that are a hybrid of the quantum dot infrared photodetector (QDIP). The DWELL detector consists of an active region composed of InAs quantum dots embedded in InGaAs quantum wells. By adjusting the InGaAs well thickness, our structure allows for the manipulation of the operating wavelength and the nature of the

An articulated partial skeleton, including a nearly complete skull and left forelimb, of a crocodylomorph reptile from the Upper Triassic Chinle Formation of Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, is referable to Hesperosuchus agilis Colbert, 1952. It contributes much new information on the skeletal structure of this previously poorly known taxon. A large, circular palpebral bone is present in each orbit. The quadratojugal is particularly well preserved and suggests a reinterpretation of this element in related taxa including Sphenosuchus. Previous analyses of sphenosuchian relationships reached conflicting results, and a critical review of the characters used in these analyses is presented. A phylogenetic analysis of basal crocodylomorph taxa provides weak support for sphenosuchian monophyly, placing Hesperosuchus with Saltoposuchus, Dibothrosuchus, and Sphenosuchus.

As currently defined, the 24 species of Schoenocaulon occur in three disjunct areas: north central Florida (one species, S. dubium), southern Peru (portion of the range of S. officinale), and the region from southeastern New Mexico-Texas south to Venezuela; the 20 species endemic to Mexico are geographically restricted. Species delimitations, often based on tepal morphology, have been problematic. Our analyses of ITS sequence data for all 27 species and infraspecific taxa support recognition of two new species and recircumscription and placement of elements of the polyphyletic S. ghiesbreghtii and S. mortonii complexes. For taxa with adequate sampling, our data also indicate 11-12 cladospecies and 3-6 metaspecies according to the apomorphic species concept. The resolved phylogeny, correlated with geography and morphology, allows insight into biogeographical diversification and the evolution of some unusual morphological characters within the genus, such as nectary differentiation and tepal margin type.

PURPOSE This descriptive, comparative study was conducted to examine characteristics, services, models and opinions among collaborative dental hygiene practitioners in New Mexico and Minnesota. METHODS A self-designed online questionnaire, distributed via SurveyMonkey®, was utilized to collect data from 73 subjects who met the inclusion criteria. A multi-phase administration process was followed. Content validity and reliability was established. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of 6 research questions. The Mann-Whitney U, Pearson Chi-Square and Fisher's Exact tests were employed to analyze 4 null hypotheses (p=0.05). RESULTS Most participants (n=36) were experienced clinicians who chose to work in an alternative setting after 28 years or more in the field and reported increased access to care as the reason for practicing collaboratively. A variety of services were offered and private insurance and Medicaid were accepted, although many practitioners did not receive d...

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a high spatial resolution, multispectral imager with alongtrack stereo capabilities scheduled for launch on the first NASA spacecraft of the Earth Observing System (EOS AM-1) in mid-199 . Data will be obtained in 14 spectral bands covering the visible through the < hermal infrared wavelength region. A number of standard data products will be available to requesters through an on-line archival and processing system. Particular, user-specified data acquisitions will be possible through a Data Acquisition Request system. res0000913 06-09-99 2 0 : 5 7 : 4 0 R.-W 1 4 -0 5 r e s 0 0 0 0 9 1 3 0 6 -0 9 -9 9 2 0 : 5 7 : 4 0 R e v 1 4 . 0 5 The Charlesworth Group, Huddersfield 01484 517077

To gain an integrated understanding of flow and transport in the vadose zone and its role in transmitting con-A vadose zone flow and transport model for Los Alamos Canyon tamination to the regional aquifer, conceptual flow and is presented that demonstrates that a comprehensive understanding transport models must be combined with site-specific of vadose zone hydrologic processes can be obtained by integrating data from geologic, hydrologic, and site characterization sources. The information on hydrostratigraphy, hydrologic condicomplex hydrostratigraphy of the canyon is captured using geologic tions, and spatially distributed field measurements. In characterization of extensive deep-well drilling samples, along with our study, we developed a large-scale numerical model surface mapping. A water budget study for the surface and shallow of vadose zone flow and transport in Los Alamos Cansubsurface hydrology is used to estimate spatially varying infiltration yon with the objective of advancing our understanding rates along the canyon. Three-dimensional flow model results show of vadose zone processes and behavior. In addition to that mesa-top infiltration rates on the order of 1 mm yr Ϫ1 , and canyonelaborating on the site-specific details of flow and transbottom rates several orders of magnitude higher, capture the water port at this site, the present study provides insights on content profiles from available wells within the model domain. Howthe role of large-scale numerical simulation in the hydroever, a range of a factor of three higher and lower than these mean logic behavior of vadose zones in semiarid systems. values is also consistent with the data. Transient flow simulations show Los Alamos Canyon, shown in Fig. 1, is one of the most that episodic infiltration events can be effectively averaged in steadycomplex sites at the Laboratory. A number of LANL state flow modeling, but transients that last on the order of a decade or facilities have been or are currently located in or adjamore, such as climate related or anthropogenically induced transients, significantly change the predicted water content. Modeling of tritium cent to the canyon, resulting in multiple effluent and transport through the vadose zone indicates that even for a nonsorbcontaminant release locations along the canyon. Because ing contaminant, most, but not all, of the contaminant released since the canyon serves as a collector of a wide range of conin the past 40 yr should still be present in the vadose zone. The mass

To assess how elements leach from several types of coal combustion products (CCPs) and to better understand possible risks from CCP use or disposal, coal ashes were sampled from two bituminous-coal-fired power plants. One plant located in Ohio burns high-sulfur (about 3.9%) Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal from the Monongahela Group of the Central Appalachian Basin; the other in New Mexico burns lowsulfur (about 0.76%) Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation coal from the San Juan Basin, Colorado Plateau. The sampled CCPs from the Ohio plant were bottom ash (BA), economizer fly ash (EFA), and fly ash (FA); the sampled CCPs from the New Mexico plant were BA, mixed FA/EFA, FA, and cyclone-separated coarse and fine fractions of a FA/EFA and FA blend. Subsamples of each ash were leached using the long-term leaching (60-day duration) component of the synthetic groundwater leaching procedure (SGLP) or the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP, 18-hour duration). These ashes were all alkaline. Leachate concentrations and leachabilities of the elements from the CCPs were similar between corresponding CCP types (BA, EFA, and FA) from each plant. The leachabilities of most elements were lowest in BA (least leachable) and increased from EFA to FA (most leachable). Ca and Sr were leached more from EFA than from either BA or FA. Leachability of most elements also increased as FA particle size decreased, possibly due in part to increasing specific surface areas. Several oxyanion-forming elements (As, Mo, Se, U, and V) leached more under SGLP than under TCLP; the opposite was true for most other elements analyzed.

Understanding the prehistoric and historic dynamics of pinon-juniper woodland requires knowledge of the seed dispersal mechanisms and seedling establishment requirements of the tree species. Here, the types and effectiven-ess of the different seed dispersers and the environmental requirements for seedling establishment are compared and contrasted for the various pinon and juniper species within the woodlands. The importance of longdistance vs. short-distance dispersal and the roles of ecotones and disturbance in woodland dynamics are discussed. Recommendations for future research are given.

Observations of radio emissions from thunderstorms were made during the summer of 1996 using two arrays of sensors located in northern New Mexico. The first array consisted of three fast electric field change meters separated by distances of 30 to 230 km. The second array consisted of three broadband (3 to 30 MHz) HF data acquisition systems separated by distances of 6 to 13 km. Differences in signal times of arrival at multiple stations were used to locate the sources of received signals. Relative times of arrival of signal reflections from the ionosphere and Earth were used to determine source heights. A distinct class of short-duration electric field change emissions was identified and characterized. The emissions have previously been termed narrow positive bipolar pulses (NPBPs). NPBPs were emitted from singular intracloud discharges that occurred in the most active regions of three thunderstorms located in New Mexico and west Texas. The discharges occurred at altitudes between 8 and 11 km above mean sea level. NEXRAD radar images show that the NPBP sources were located in close proximity to high reflectivity storm cores where reflectivity values were in excess of 40 dBZ. NPBP electric field change waveforms were isolated, bipolar, initially positive pulses with peak amplitudes comparable to those of return stroke field change waveforms. The mean FWHM (full width at half maximum) of initial NPBP field change pulses was 4.7 gs. The HF emissions associated with NPBPs were broadband noise-like radiation bursts with a mean duration of 2.8 gs and amplitudes 10 times larger than emissions from typical intracloud and cloud-to-ground lightning processes. Calculations indicate that the events represent a distinct class of singular, isolated lightning discharges that have limited spatial extents of 300 to 1000 m and occur in high electric field regions. The unique radio emissions produced by these discharges, in combination with their unprecedented physical characteristics, clearly distinguish the events from other types of previously observed thunderstorm electrical processes. that different lightning processes produce characteristically different emissions. The emissions may differ in their amplitudes, spectra, temporal evolution, or other respects. Three previously reported classes of events that have been characterized by their distinct radio emissions are narrow positive bipolar pulses [Le Vine, 1980; Willett et al., 1989; Medelius et al., 1991], transionospheric pulse pairs [Holden et al., 1995; Massey and Holden, 1995; Massey et al., 1998], and subionospheric pulse pairs [Smith, 1995; Smith and Holden, 1996]. A comparison presented in this paper provides evidence that all three types of emissions are produced by the same sources within thunderstorms. First evidence of this association was presented

Determinations of soil moisture and sediment availability in arid regions are important indicators of local climate variability and the potential for future dust storm events. Data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) radiometer were used to derive the relationships among potential soil erosion, soil moisture, and thermal inertia (TI) at the spatial scale of aeolian landforms for the White Sands Dune Field between May 2000 and March 2008. Land surface apparent thermal inertia (ATI) data were used to derive an approximation of actual TI in order to estimate the wind threshold velocity ratio (WTR). The WTR is a ratio of the wind velocity thresholds at which soil erosion occurs for wet soil versus dry soil. The ASTER-derived soil moisture retrievals and the changes through time at White Sands were interpreted to be driven primarily by precipitation, but the presence of a perched groundwater table may also influence certain areas. The sediment availability of dunes, active playa surfaces and the margin of the alluvial fans to the west were determined to be consistently higher than the surrounding area. The sediment availability can be primarily explained by precipitation events and the number of dry days prior to the data acquisition. Other factors such as vegetation and the amount of surface crusting may also influence soil mobility, but these were not measured in the field. This approach showed the highest modeled sediment availability values just days prior to the largest dust emission event at White Sands in decades. Such an approach could be extended to a global monitoring technique for arid land systems that are prone to dust storms and for other regional land surface studies in the Sahara.

Elite distance runners participated in one of two studies designed to investigate the eects of moderate altitude training (inspiratory partial pressure of oxygen »115±125 mmHg) on submaximal, maximal and supramaximal exercise performance following return to sea-level. Study 1 (New Mexico, USA) involved 14 subjects who were assigned to a 4-week altitude training camp (1500±2000 m) whilst 9 performance-matched subjects continued with an identical training programme at sea-level (CON). Ten EXP subjects who trained at 1640 m and 19 CON subjects also participated in study 2 (Krugersdorp, South Africa). Selected metabolic and cardiorespiratory parameters were determined with the subjects at rest and during exercise 21 days prior to (PRE) and 10 and 20 days following their return to sealevel (POST). Whole blood lactate decreased by 23% (P < 0.05 vs PRE) during submaximal exercise in the EXP group only after 20 days at sea-level (study 1). However, the lactate threshold and other measures of running economy remained unchanged. Similarly, supramaximal performance during a standardised track session did not change. Study 2 demonstrated that hypoxia per se did not alter performance. In contrast, in the EXP group supramaximal running velocity decreased by 2% (P < 0.05) after 20 days at sea-level.

The Bridge to the Future) mentoring project was undertaken to meet the need for family and consumer sciences (FCS) teachers. The centerpiece of the project was one-on-one mentoring relationships between family and consumer sciences education (FCSE) mentor students from New Mexico State University and mentee students from the Education Program at Dona Ana Branch Community College. During fall 2003, the researchers developed curricula, recruitment materials, and assessment instruments. Seven mentor-mentee pairs completed the project during spring 2004. The researchers planned monthly structured events, and each mentor-mentee pair arranged for unstructured events. Valid and reliable cognitive and affective assessments were administered to participants at the beginning and end of the project. Mentees had significant increases in both cognitive and affective mean scores regarding teaching FCS. This mentoring model is recommended to FCSE educators and others working in recruitment settings.

The present investigation has been conducted in order to develop a rational approach able to describe the changes in flow stress of AA7075-T6 aluminum alloy with deformation temperature and strain rate, when this material is deformed at temperatures in the range of 123-298 K at strain rates in the range of 4 × 10 −4 to 5 × 10 −2 s −1 . The constitutive formulation that has been advanced to accomplish these objectives represents a simplified form of the mechanical threshold stress (flow stress at 0 K) model developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA). Thus, it is assumed that the current flow stress of the material arises from both athermal and thermal barriers to dislocation motion. In the present case, the effect of three thermal barriers has been considered: solid solution, precipitation hardening and work-hardening. The first two effects do not evolve during plastic deformation, whereas the last one is considered as an evolutionary component of the flow stress. Such an evolution is described by means of the hardening law earlier advanced by [20]. The law is implemented in differential form and is integrated numerically in order to update the changes in strain rate that occur during tensile tests carried out both at constant and variable crosshead speed. The extrapolation of the hardening components from 0 K to finite temperatures is accomplished by means of the model earlier advanced by Kocks (1976) [19]. The results illustrate that the constitutive formulation developed in this way is able to describe quite accurately both the flow stress and work-hardening rate of the material, as well as temperature and strain rate history effects that are present when deformation conditions change in the course of plastic deformation. The evaluation of the ductility of the alloy indicates that the changes in this property are mainly determined by deformation temperature rather by strain rate. When deformation temperature decreases from 298 to 123 K, ductility also decreases from ∼35 to 24%. However, despite these relatively small variations, significant changes in the fracture morphology could be observed on the fracture surfaces of the examined specimens, with the predominance of a mixed ductile-brittle mechanism at lower temperatures.

Despite efforts to deinstitutionalize long-term care, it is estimated that 43 percent of the elderly will use a nursing facility at some point. Whether sufficient nursing facility services will be available to rural elderly is debatable due to cutbacks in governmental expenditures and recent financial losses among nursing facilities. This paper explores the challenges confronting rural nursing facilities in maintaining their viability and strategies that might be considered to improve their longevity. A comparative analysis of 18 urban and 34 rural nursing facilities in New Mexico is used in identifying promising strategic adaptations available to rural facilities. Among other considerations, rural facilities should strive to enhance revenue streams, implement strict cost control measures, emphasize broader promotional tactics, and diversify services commensurate with the constraints of the communities and populations served.

Although the intent of community-based participatory research (CBPR) is to include community voices in all phases of a research initiative, community partners appear less frequently engaged in data analysis and interpretation than in other research phases. Using 4 brief case studies, each with a different data collection methodology, we provide examples of how community members participated in data analysis, interpretation, or both, thereby strengthening community capacity and providing unique insight. The roles and skills of the community and academic partners were different from but complementary to each other. We suggest that including community partners in data analysis and interpretation, while lengthening project time, enriches insights and findings and consequently should be a

A geologic map graphically displays information on the distribution, nature, orientation, and age relationships of rock and surficial units and the occurrence of structural features such as faults and folds. Geologic contacts are irregular surfaces that form boundaries between different types or ages of units. Data depicted on this geologic map are based on field geologic mapping, compilation of published and unpublished work, and photogeologic interpretation. Locations of contacts are not surveyed, but are plotted by interpretation of the position of a given contact onto a topographic base map; therefore, the accuracy of contact locations depends on the scale of mapping and the interpretation of the geologist. Significant portions of the study area may have been mapped at scales smaller than the final map; therefore, the user should be aware of potentially significant variations in map detail. Site-specific conditions should be verified by detailed surface mapping or subsurface exploration. Topographic and cultural changes associated with recent development may not be shown everywhere.

In any geostatistical study, an important consideration is the choice of an appropriate, repeatable, and objective search strategy that controls the nearby samples to be included in the location-specific estimation procedure. Almost all geostatistical software available in the market puts the onus on the user to supply search strategy parameters in a heuristic manner. These parameters are solely controlled by geographical coordinates that are defined for the entire area under study, and the user has no guidance as to how to choose these parameters. The main thesis of the current study is that the selection of search strategy parameters has to be driven by data-both the spatial coordinates and the sample values-and cannot be chosen beforehand. For this purpose, a genetic-algorithm-based ordinary kriging with moving neighborhood technique is proposed. The search capability of a genetic algorithm is exploited to search the feature space for appropriate, either local or global, search strategy parameters. Radius of circle/sphere and/or radii of standard or rotated ellipse/ellipsoid are considered as the decision variables to be optimized by GA. The superiority of GA-based ordinary kriging is demonstrated through application to the Wolfcamp Aquifer piezometric head data. Assessment of numerical results showed that definition of search strategy parameters based on both geographical coordinates and sample values improves cross-validation statistics when compared with that based on geographical coordinates alone. In the case of a variable search neighborhood for each estimation point, optimization of local search strategy parameters for an elliptical support domain-the orientation of which is dictated by anisotropic axes-via GA was able to capture the dynamics of piezometric head in west Texas/New Mexico in an efficient way.

Channel base currents from triggered lightning were measured at the NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida, during summer 1990 and at Fort McClellan, Alabama, during summer 1991. Additionally, 16-mm cinematic records with 3-or 5-ms resolution were obtained for all flashes, and streak camera records were obtained for three of the Florida flashes. The 17 flashes analyzed here contained 69 strokes, all lowering negative charge from cloud to ground. Statistics on interstroke interval, no-current interstroke interval, total stroke duration, total stroke charge, total stroke action integral ($ i 2dt), return stroke current wave front characteristics, time to half peak value, and return stroke peak current are presented. Return stroke current pulses, characterized by rise times of the order of a few microseconds or less and peak values in the range of 4 to 38 kA, were found not to occur until after any preceding current at the bottom of the lightning channel fell below the noise level of less than 2 A. Current pulses associated with M components, characterized by slower rise times (typically tens to hundreds of microseconds) and peak values generally smaller than those of the return stroke pulses, occurred during established channel current flow of some tens to some hundreds of amperes. A relatively strong positive correlation was found between return stroke current average rate of rise and current peak. There was essentially no correlation between return stroke current peak and 10-90% rise time or between return stroke peak and the width of the current waveform at half of its peak value.